Baby Steps

Chapter 7: Everything Has Changed (a simple name)

At 18 weeks, Rosie woke one afternoon from a long nap craving waffles. Even though they weren't typically seen as an appropriate lunch, Rosie believed that the rules did not apply in pregnancy because she was hardly in control of what she wanted to eat. Whenever she found anything that didn't make her nauseous, she went for it.

Ten minutes in the kitchen and Rosie was able to concoct a feast that consisted of banana and chocolate chip waffles, whipped cream and chocolate syrup; complimented by a glass of milk. As Rosie indulged in her meal, she turned on the TV to discover that Full House was on reruns. In this particular episode, Becky and Jesse were struggling to pick names for their twins. Jesse wanted off-beat, unique names; which would spare his children the trouble of being two of ten kids in their kindergarten class with the same name. This caused Rosie to realize that she hadn't given any thought to starting her list of potential baby names and she really wanted to have it done before finding out the gender; that is, if she and Marco agreed to do it.

While the TV continued to play in the background, Rosie began scouring the Internet and every baby book she could find in search of the perfect name. Sooner or later, two hours had gone by and Rosie found herself with an overflowing sea of baby names; somehow she ended up with a lot more girls' names than boys' names. She didn't know if that was because she had always envisioned having a little girl or that she hung around them more so she got used to hearing different names. But she knew that she would be happy either way. Every name on her list met all or most of the prerequisites she had come up with while watching Full House reruns.

In Rosie's eyes, the name had to pass the TRUST test; which stood for:

. Thoughtful- it didn't matter if the name was inspired by TV, a movie or even a color. It just had to have significance to Rosie and Marco. This is where considering the meaning of names would come in handy.

. Reliable- this name would be with the baby for the rest of its life and Rosie had come to learn that a name was a good foundation for a personalities. She could only hope that her child would grow to look at its name in times of hardship when she and Marco couldn't be there.

. Uncommon- middle name filler or otherwise unlike Grace or Rose (considering she grew up not being the only Rosie in school). Rosie wanted to spare her child the grief of having a name that was common and not being one of thousands in school with a certain name.

. Strong- to Rosie, it meant everything for her to show the baby how much she wanted it and how loved it was. What better way than to start off with a strong name, fit for a baby who would win this long battle?

. Travel well- She knew it was important to be able to envision the baby with the name in all stages of life; from the moment the baby was born, through to childhood, teenage years and adulthood. For the longest time as a tween and a teenager, Rosie felt that no one would take her seriously because her name was just so common an fitting for an innocent little girl.

After revising it and attempting to perfect it, Rosie's list looked something like this:

Rosie's Boy Names

Rosie's Girl Names

Everett

Anastasia

Gideon